It’s no secret that Google and China aren’t exactly BFFs at the
moment, but now Motorola has thrown its hat into the foray in a rather
large way in order to protect its own interests and presumably make a
nice bit of coin while doing so. As of this quarter, all of Motorola’s
Android smartphones sold in China will see Google search and Google
Maps replaced by Bing search and Bing Maps. Devices currently in the
hands of consumers or sitting unsold on store shelves will be getting
an OTA update sometime in the not too distant future.

Google spent all that money giving Android away thinking they would be
the search engine in Android and they could make big money from that.
But they get nothing if the Android phone manufacturer replaces Google
with Yahoo or Bing!

Motorola has already replaced Google with Yahoo on future Android AT&T
phones in the USA

It also destroy the value of Android for developers as these changes
represent a Bable of Android phone platforms that are all different.
There now is little future in programing for Android as envisioned by
Google just last month.

IMHO Android is the biggest tech screw up in the twenty first Century!

It's not every day that you see a major tech company being called a "jealous and arbitrary feudal lord." Today, Apple
holds that distinction.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit digital rights advocacy group, has started a very public fight against
Apple's notoriously controlling ways. The organization obtained a copy of Apple's license agreement for iPhone app
developers -- a document that, by the EFF's description, is carefully guarded from ever entering public view.

Knowing Apple's history of control -- the company's methods are sometimes satirically compared to those of a communist
regime, after all -- the details of the developer agreement aren't entirely surprising. But seeing such strong remarks
from a highly regarded rights organization is certainly something that grabs your attention.

Apple's iPhone Developer Agreement
Before we get to the specifics of the EFF's review, let's take a quick look at Apple's actual developer agreement. Even
the very pages of Apple's contract appear to be crafted with control in mind: The document contains a clause that forbids
developers from publicly discussing the agreement in any fashion without Apple's explicit approval. The first rule of
Developer Club, it seems, is that you don't talk about Developer Club.

The EFF was only able to obtain and publicize the document by way of a keenly spotted loophole: NASA recently released
its own app into Apple's App Store. Being that NASA is a government agency, the EFF was able to file a Freedom of
Information Act request to get a glimpse at what NASA had signed.

(If you ask me, Apple probably wants to sue NASA for handing over the info, but it's too busy suing everyone else in the
galaxy for violating its patents on common technology.)

You can see the entire Apple developer agreement at the EFF's site (PDF). Here, though, is a quick-and-dirty guide to the
highlights:

• Apple can reject your app for any reason, even if you do everything by the book. It can also kill it after acceptance
at anytime and for any reason. There's plenty of evidence out there on this one.

• If Apple does reject your app, you can't then take it and distribute it through another channel (such as a third-party
app distributor).

• You are forbidden from developing an app or even installing the software development kit on any computer not
manufactured by Apple.

• No matter how badly Apple may screw up -- botching an update to your app, for example, or accidentally taking your app
offline and costing you several days' worth of income -- it'll never owe you more than $50 in damages.

• You must take the official Apple fanboy oath to prove you are a fully committed diehard Apple-lover who will never,
ever question anything Steve tells you.*

*Okay, I made that last one up. But hey, it seems like it could fit in pretty naturally.

The EFF on Apple
There's the background; now, here's what the EFF is saying. Apple's agreement, according to Senior Staff Attorney Fred
von Lohmann, is a "very one-sided contract, favoring Apple at every turn."

Lohmann goes on to state that Apple can get away with its tactics because it "owns" its customers, thanks to the closed
ecosystem that is the iPhone (as well as the iPod Touch and iPad).

"In short," he says, "no competition among app stores means no competition for the license terms that apply to iPhone
developers."

And for the real zinger:

"If Apple's mobile devices are the future of computing, you can expect that future to be one with more limits on
innovation and competition than the PC era that came before. It's frustrating to see Apple, the original pioneer in
generative computing, putting shackles on the market it (for now) leads. If Apple wants to be a real leader, it should be
fostering innovation and competition, rather than acting as a jealous and arbitrary feudal lord."

Amen, brother; I couldn't agree more. Apple's current strategies are far more focused on protecting its interests than
serving the interests of its users. And it's a shame, too, because the potential for greatness is there; Apple has the
inspiration and the ability to build a near-flawless piece of technology. But, as I've argued before, the company insists
on maintaining such a tight grip on its users' experiences that people are forced to make significant sacrifices in order
to reap the benefits the products provide.

On a side note, if anyone comes across a good costume for "arbitrary feudal lord," let me know. That's got Halloween 2010
written all over it.

"Ness-Net" <richard.nodamn@nessnet.spam.com> wrote in
news:f_adnWCQ_oXjbATWnZ2dnUVZ_g6dnZ2d@giganews.com :
> On a side note, if anyone comes across a good costume for "arbitrary
> feudal lord," let me know. That's got Halloween 2010 written all over
> it.
>
>

Look at the look on this iPhone developer's pet *****'s face....total
immersion.

This is why when Steve is announcing a new product they always keep all
the auditorium lights turned off so the cameras don't catch pictures of
the developers in their dungeon attire chained to their pets.

I've seen people like these on Halloween walking Charleston's
streets....(c;]